All hands to the pumps.

Seriously, it's a crazy week. So crazy in fact, so snowed under with everything that I am, that the only natural response is to side-step all of it, and write a Blog for myself. The awesome power of distraction.

To tell you the truth, things aren't going well right now. You loyal people who check fairly often, can't have helped but notice that blogs are few and far between at the moment. There are reasons for that, but no need to go there at the moment. When it gets like this, I get reflective - quite possibly reflective for the wrong reasons. But reflective I am. A friend of mine recently lost a grandparent, and knowing the age of most of you, I'm guessing that you have too. I've lost all four, with my Mother's parents passing away quite close together several years ago now. From then on - as an only child - it's been my parents and *me*. And since I don't go home as often as I'd like, they're getting older and frailer each and every time. It's distressing.

But life goes on. Elsewhere, Jason and Serena have brought Lauren into the world. Andy and Fiona were expecting on November 7th and while they haven't heard the pitter-patter of tiny feet just yet, it's a baby over the weekend, or one induced on Monday. As I say, life goes on. I've recently read a book about the Fermi Paradox. The idea that if aliens exist, why aren't they here to be seen? Turns out, we might be living in a dark, cruel universe that just keeps knocking back any civilisation that evolves up out of the slime. Life just happens, and life just keeps on plugging away and coming back in a different form. I kind of like that idea. I think it's reassuring, not desparing. Still enough of my rambling - and this is a ramble - let's all remember that life goes on, and it's worth fighting for.

Thank you for listening. Ridiculous as it may sound, the above has helped me make an important decision. :-)